TPM: Taxpayers to bail out Phil Gramm's foreign bank

[smoogatz]

The New York Times reports this evening that "foreign banks, which were initially excluded from the plan, lobbied successfully over the weekend to be able to sell the toxic American mortgage debt owned by their American units to the Treasury, getting the same treatment as United States banks."

The Times further reports that two of the biggest foreign banks in need of such relief are Barclays and UBS. In fact, my understanding is that UBS is more on the line here than any other foreign bank.

Let's add this up.

John McCain's top economics advisor, who is widely believed to be his choice for Treasury Secretary, should he win in November, is former Sen. Phil Gramm. (Indeed, just last night his spokesman refused to say Gramm wouldn't be McCain's choice for Treasury Secretary.)

Gramm is both vice chairman of UBS's US division and a lobbyist for UBS.

If UBS successfully lobbied over the weekend to get in on the bailout, what was Gramm's role in the lobbying?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/

[Atman]

1. This is BIG. Which is why it won't be discussed by the media.

.

[elehhhhna]

2. UBS is in the midst of a HUUUUUUGE SCANDAL

helping US citizens shelter money offshore -- over 50 Billion ion untaxed assets.

NO WAY SHOULD WE BAIL A BANK THAT SCREWED US.

[Hubert Flottz]

3. UBS Warburg...

Snip...

History

UBS has its roots as a Swiss Bank, originating in 1747, when its first branch was established in the Swiss region of Val Poschiavo. However, the three core components of the company date back to the second half of the nineteenth century. Union Bank of Switzerland, Swiss Bank Corporation, and Paine Webber or their antecedents, were all founded in the 1860s and 1870s.

Modern UBS was formed through a merger of the Union Bank of Switzerland and the Swiss Bank Corporation in June 1998. Although the merged company's new name was originally supposed to be the "United Bank of Switzerland," officials opted to call it simply "UBS" because of a name clash with United Bank Switzerland - a part of the United Bank Limited's Swiss subsidiary.

SBC had previously built a global investment banking business through its acquisitions of Dillon Read in New York and S.G. Warburg in London. The first chairman of the merged bank had to step down in October 1998 due to the Long-Term Capital Management crisis, which affected the Union Bank of Switzerland. In 2000, UBS acquired PaineWebber Group Inc. to become the world's largest wealth management firm for private clients. Invested assets in all wealth management businesses, including the U.S., total CHF 3.265 trillion.

On June 9th, 2003, all UBS business groups rebranded under the UBS name as the company began operating as one large firm. UBS Paine Webber, UBS Warburg, UBS Asset Management, and others became simply "UBS". As a result of the rebranding, UBS took a $1B writedown for the loss of goodwill associated with the retirement of the Paine Webber brand. UBS is no longer an acronym but is the company's brand, like 3M. Its logo of three keys, carried over from SBC, stands for confidence, security, and discretion. MORE at link...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UBS_AG

Paul Moritz Warburg - founder of the Federal Reserve Banking System

http://www.israel-times.com/finance/2005/08/paul-moritz-warburg-founder-of-the-federal-reserve-banking-system-997/

UBS Warburg/Phil Gramm ...so many DOTS so little time.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3349714

[Hubert Flottz]

4. Kick...

We need to keep this information front and center.

We have to put the skids to Phil Gramm grabing any power and using it to do any more damage to America than he has done already.